A Child Support Lawyer in Douglasville, GA Can Help You Through the Process

Hiring an attorney to establish or enforce a child support order can make the process easier. Although there are guidelines that the court follows, each parent will have to complete a worksheet with their financial information that will be used to calculate child support payment. Failing to complete the sheet properly or excluding information could result in a calculation that is too high or too low.

Are There Instructions for the Worksheet?

Although there are instructions for the worksheet, they can be very confusing. If a parent is unemployed or underemployed, the court will impute the parent’s income to determine the child support amount. Various adjustments will have to be made to each parent’s income based on the taxes paid, pre-existing child support obligations, and whether there are other children present in the home.

Mandatory Deviations

Mandatory deviations will be made to a child obligation for two reasons. Work-related child care expenses and health insurance will be taken into account when calculating child support. These two amounts could increase or decrease a parent’s monthly child support obligation.

Non-Mandatory Deviations

Non-mandatory deviations are other expenses a court could take into consideration, including alimony, other health-related expenses, extraordinary expenses, the amount of parenting time each parent has, a high or low amount of income, and several others. A child support lawyer in Douglasville, GA can help a parent through this process so the calculation is fair.

When Does Child Support Stop?

Child support will continue through a child’s secondary education, up to the age of 20 unless the parents agree to a later date. If a child gets married, a parent passes away, the paying parent obtains legal custody of the child, and other reasons could cause child support to be stopped.

Enforcement

When a parent doesn’t pay their child support on a regular basis, enforcement action can take place against them. A parent who doesn’t pay regularly their child support could be put in jail, lose their driver’s license, and be found in contempt of court.

If you are interested in seeking a child support order or enforcing a current order, it’s important to speak with an experienced family law attorney. For more information, please, feel free to visit Dsternlieblaw.com.